Oh, little girl of mine

How did you become so opinionated, especially on the subject of dressing yourself, Daisy? You have insisted on wearing the same pants and either the pink fleece or blue fleece shirt everyday for the last five days. Today you are wearing a pink sweat suit. It is nearly 80 degrees today. I even pulled out the boxes of spring/summer things and let you pick something from there. You don't like any of those clothes. You only want the heavy fleece. Maybe you won't get too hot. Maybe if you do, the other clothes will be more appealing to you.

New washer and dryer are here!

I am so excited! The first load is in the washer and will be in the dryer soon. It's been almost 5 days that we've been without a washer or dryer. Multiply that by six people and guess what I'll be doing for the next day or two or three!

Family Field Trip

I use the term very loosely. Our dryer stopped working on Thursday. We've had the dryer for thirteen years - it was a wedding present along with a matching washing machine. We have a washer and dryer on order and they should be here on Wednesday. Remember that there are six of us in this house, two of which are boys and two girls that like to change clothes, oh, about every fifteen minutes. I have to do atleast one load of laundry every other day.

Anyway, back to the field trip. We loaded up the gang and four loads of laundry and went to the laundromat. The washing machines were front load with see through doors. So, each child stood in front of a washer and watched the laundy. It was very entertaining for them. We were there for an hour and a half and they never got bored. They even helped to fold everything. Perhaps the new washer and dryer will be just as entertaining!

What did I tell you?

Lake was home by 10:00pm last night. We got the call at 9:35pm that he was ready to come home. He said he didn't know if he was sick or just homesick but he wanted to come home. This is fine with me. The day will come all too soon when 'home' is the last place he wants to be.

Will he stay all night?

We'll see. Lake was invited to sleep over at a friend's house tonight but I won't be surprised if we get a phone call to come and pick him up around 10:00pm. That's about as late as he usually stays. Even at my mom's house. He just likes to be in his own bed.

Spring break started out soggy and has now turned very cold. We HAD to get out of the house today. Believe me. We HAD to get out! So, we went to Chuck E. Cheese today. We stayed for four hours. There were some school friends and some mom's that I like there also, so it turned out to be a good day. I even think Rosie has made a friend that is her age AND a girl! Most of her friends are actually friends of her brothers so it's kind of cute watching her play with a little girl that's her age. She went to her house for about two hours this afternoon (after Chuck E. Cheese) and has fallen asleep at 7:00pm tonight!

Tate had a rough day yesterday - he took a baseball bat to the face around his cheek. Suprisingly there was no blood, no loose teeth and so far no bruise. Just a little swelling that seems to have gone down today. He was playing with an older friend (he's 10 years old) and the friend felt horrible when he realized that he'd hit Tate. He's a good kid and it was honestly an accident.

Daisy is just being her cute little self. When John Henry came in from work yesterday she said, "Daddy, I lub you. I'm glad you're home." Makes my heart melt. Not much going on with the potty training. The other three were trained by two and a half years. She'll hit that mark in a little less than two months. We've still got time.

Soggy start to spring break...

It has rained all day - the first day of spring break. We are hoping things will dry out a bit and we can have fun this week.

As of yesterday there is a new family member. Her name is Sassy and her nickname is Happy. Yes, my mom has adopted a puppy. She is a cute Jack Russell terrier. She's very friendly. Daisy said that she's a 'softy' puppy. Mom thought she said a 'sassy' puppy. Rosie wanted to name her Happy. Hence, the name and nickname.

John Henry should be home from his long weekend away in about four hours!

Four tired children

And they were all in bed by 8:00pm on a Saturday night. John Henry is out of town until Monday so I've tried to stay busy with the kids. Last night Lake had a practice game. The position he's playing is catcher - he makes the cutest catcher, too! He was able to get a base hit at his first time up to bat but struck out the second time. His team still won. There was no 'official' score but the other team didn't score at all and Lake's team scored more times than the parents could keep up with!

Today Tate had t-ball practice and it looks like it is going to be a good season with his team, also. I haven't seen the other teams yet but we have some really strong players.

After practice we all went to Aunt LaLa's house for an early dinner and swimming. Yes, swimming!! She and my uncle have an indoor pool. It was custom built - the entire pool is four feet deep. My four kids and my cousin's four (of five, the baby's too little to swim yet!) had a complete blast swimming!

What did we have for dinner? Aunt LaLa's homemade tamales, homemade Spanish rice, homemade tortilla chips and cheese dip and homemade 'sloppy pillows' for dessert. She is quite possibly the best cook ever.

I just hope the kids don't wake-up at the crack of dawn since they went to sleep so early!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Everyone is wearing green today - Lake is wearing a green shirt and jacket and was upset because he couldn't locate his green pants. Tate is wearing green pants, green and white shirt and a green jacket. Rosie and Daisy aren't dressed yet but will be in green also. Yes, I have on green.... socks! Granddad, you would be proud!

"I lub you, three"

This is the sweetest thing ever! I was in the van with Daisy and Rosie and completely on her own (it was actually quiet in the van!) Daisy said, "Mommy, I lub you, three!"
Later that day John Henry asked her if she loves him. She said, "No. I lub Mommy." She later said that she loves Daddy, too. She has the absolute sweetest voice when she says this.

Family fun

Yesterday was just a plain and simple fun day for our family. It started with the boys baseball practice - Tate at 10 and Lake at 11:30. I attended the team mom meeting while Tate was practicing. When I got to the practice, John Henry had the girls fielding balls in the outfield.

After all the practices were over we went to lunch and then just went for a ride. We were in the truck so we went off-road for awhile. The kids loved it. They even got to ride in the back of the truck for a few minutes - we were on a dirt road, driving slowly by the river and Daisy was inside the truck. At one point we stopped and walked around for awhile. The boys found a cool 'secret hideout.' After yesterday, I think they are all ready for a short camping trip. We've been talking about it for probably a year but I think we could all handle it now.

As a side note: My mom's poodle of 12 years died this week. Thankfully, it all happened very quickly.

What color are you?

I presented this question to Daisy today and she informed me that she is orange. She is fascinated with the colors of her world and is constantly pointing to things and telling me the color. Well, she was changing into pajamas this evening: blue Cinderella with yellow hair. As she was telling me the colors of the pajamas, I pointed to her and asked, "What color are you?" Without hesitating she replied, "Orange."

Parent/Teacher Conference

I had the spring conference with Tate's teacher this afternoon. He is reading well above the kindergarten expectation. His writing has greatly improved. He has a very well rounded personality. He is polite. He doesn't become angry if he doesn't get his way. He doesn't fidget. He can sit still for five minutes. (He can?) Yes, he can. He is a joy to have in the class room. From all indications I feel like he will get the invitation to the magnet school. He actually scored one point higher on one of the tests than his brother did last year. Knowing this, I will still be anxiously awaiting the letter in May.

I will have a conference with Lake's teacher closer to the end of the school year. I did get a chance to talk with her earlier this week and she stated that he was reading much better and had moved to the higher reading group in his class.

Rosie can write her name. The 'y' is a little wiggly but it is legible. She is also learning about sounds that go with the letter. She can also draw a beautiful flower.

Daisy knows all of the colors. Even black, white, brown, pink, purple and grey. Potty training? Not so good today. Oh well. There's always tomorrow.

It feels like spring...

It's warm outside this afternoon with a slight breeze - just right if you ask me! The three older kids are outside playing and Daisy is asleep on the sofa. She has done an amazing job with the potty today. She's had on a pull-up but has kept it dry all day. I haven't even asked her if she's needs to go to the potty - she went once by herself and came for me to go with her two more times. I will not get my hopes up yet.

The other day I filled in my calendar with all of the boys' baseball practices and now there is not much room to write much else on the calendar. I'm thankful that I enjoy the outdoors because that's where I'll be most afternoons until June!

58 Pages!

That's what I accomplished this weekend on Daisy's scrapbook. I started with a baby shower a few days before she was born and decided to stop for the time when I completed her second birthday. So, now she has an album (she was asking about hers on Friday) and I'm only four months behind!

The weekend itself was lots of fun for me. I roomed with a friend that I hadn't seen in over a year. We both have four children and it's very hard to get together because of distance and schedules. The other roommate was a neighbor of my friend's and we had such a good time together that we decided to try and attend the next retreat in August. Also in attendance were two of my sorority sisters (one of which is my big sister!) We had all sort of lost touch but hopefully that will change. I also ran into a girl that I had gone to middle school with! Lots of scrapbooking and reunions!

My family seemed to have a good weekend together. They stayed very busy. They were all very tired last night and went to bed without any fuss.

My Baby's Going to Preschool

It's official. I registered Daisy for two days a week of preschool. She'll start in the fall. John Henry and I have talked at length about this. Well, mostly me talking and John Henry being a patient listener. It's hard for me to let go. She's the last baby for me. I've loved having babies in the house but am also looking forward to all the things that can be done easily now that everyone can walk, feed themselves and almost potty by themselves.

So, in the fall I will have two days a week without any children..... I wonder what I'll do.

Overwhelmed

That's me. I used to be a very organized person and now I feel like I can't get anything accomplished. I love staying home with my children and am very thankful that I don't have to work outside the home. I do feel like I need to make some changes, though. I need to be more structured. There are so many things that I want to get done before the boys are out of school for summer. I would like to get all of the closets organized. I would like to go through all of the kids clothes and sort through what fits and what needs to be passed along. I need to go through toys and do the same. I would like to get all of the scrapbooks caught up to date.

I have always been a 'list' person. If I can make a list of things to do and then mark them off as they are completed I just feel better.

I am going on a scrapbooking retreat this weekend and will hopefully get a lot of Daisy's album completed - I would like to get her caught up through Christmas. That's 25 months worth of photos. I think it may be possible because the person I was sharing a table with (and talking mostly with) had to cancel because she's having her gall bladder removed Friday morning. So, I won't have anyone at my table to distract me. I'll post my success when I return! (Trixie, do you want to make a guess at how many pages I'll complete??)

I'm hoping this weekend will recharge me and I'll be able to complete some of the other goals I've set!